LUCKNOW: Former Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Masood Ahmad joined the Congress here on Monday, months after quitting the Jayant Chaudhary-led party and accusing it of "selling" election tickets.
Ahmad, who was the RLD's Uttar Pradesh unit chief, joined the Congress along with his supporters in the presence of its national secretary and state unit co-in-charge Dheeraj Gurjar.
A large number of RLD and Samajwadi Party workers also joined the Congress at the state headquarters in Lucknow, it said in a statement.
Gurjar welcomed Ahmad and others into the party and exuded confidence that this would strengthen the Congress.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahmad accused the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the RLD of remaining silent on public issues, calling them "B teams" of the BJP.
Urging Muslims and Dalits to shun their "blind faith" in these parties and join the Congress to save the Constitution and democracy, Ahmad said Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were fighting against anti-people policies and the dictatorial attitude of the Narendra Modi government.
Small regional parties getting votes by misleading the minorities and Dalits are silent and only taking forward the BJP's agenda, Ahmad alleged.
A former Uttar Pradesh education minister, Ahmad was very close to RLD founder Ajit Singh.
He left the party in March.
Gurjar said minorities and Dalits in the country have now understood that the Congress was the only alternative to the BJP.
Unemployment is at its peak and inflation has broken all the records, but the Modi government and the BJP are deliberately breaking the back of the common man, he added.
People had voted for the BJP for "achche din" but the party has cheated youngsters, students and farmers, the Congress leader said.
Former Congress MP P L Punia, also present on the occasion, referred to the release of the list of 40 people who illegally bought and sold land in Ayodhya and charged the state government of standing with the land mafia.